The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential incumbents of that office in the nation's history. While many vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view today."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
